The Changing Landscape of Online Advertising

Monday, August 31st, 2009 at 4:59 am

This is a guest post by Zeke Camusio, founder of The Outsourcing Company.

There are many issues when it comes to online advertising. You used to have to blast out millions of ads online so people will read all about your products or services, click on your ad, go to your site and make a purchase. Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple anymore. People have been so bombarded with irrelevant ads that they just don’t pay attention the way they used to.

Does this mean that online advertising is on its way out? Absolutely not. But it has drastically changed.

Online Advertising Solutions

One of the best ways to get a return on your investment is through SEO, PPC and social media marketing.

SEO and PPC are effective advertising tools because they enable users to find you more easily at the exact time they are looking for products and services like yours. Without SEO and PPC expect to be lost in cyberspace and not be found by the right potential customers.

* SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – Unlike ads, SEO uses optimized techniques/keywords to drive quality traffic to your site through search engines such as Google, Yahoo, etc.
* PPC (Pay Per Click) – Online advertisers pay their hosts only when their ad is clicked (e.g. Google AdWords). When writing PPC ads keep the following in mind: it’s all about the headlines and benefits. Keep it simple, use strong headlines and a call to action. Your goal is to get that ad clicked!

Social media marketing allows you to really hone in to your target market. You have control over the information you share with people on your networks.

* Connects you with large active audiences across the globe. You can interact and connect with people immediately.
* Creates a dynamic, long-lasting online presence. As a result people grow to desire your products or services, which over time results in sales!
* Positions you and your company as experts in your field.

Targeted Advertising

Even though the above marketing techniques are highly recommended, banner ads can work to your advantage if targeted correctly. Make sure that ads are displayed to audiences in your specific niche. Steer clear of broad-based advertising.

* Targeted Ads – For example, if you sell organic dog food, place banner ads in a site specifically geared toward health/nutrition for dogs. It will be cheaper and your ads will convert better.
* Broad Ads – Google also displays ads that contain certain keywords. It’s not as good as targeted advertising but it still works. Remember not to place ads on sites with a “broad appeal” – don’t place the same organic dog food banner ad on a general pets site – think NICHE!

Zeke is a serial entrepreneur, Internet Marketing expert and founder of The Outsourcing Company, an Internet marketing agency with offices in Aspen, Colo. and New York. Let’s Do It!, Zeke’s Internet marketing blog, has thousands of followers from all over the world.Share this Post

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I’ve Got My Mind Made Up

Sunday, August 30th, 2009 at 5:39 am

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I want to talk about mindset here. This past Tuesday, I had to take some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training. Initially, I was not looking forward to it as I didn’t enjoy it and I wasn’t too crazy about the instructor as a martial artist. He didn’t seem very humble nor was he patient with his students. I remembered the last time I tested and I totally bombed on the one-legged and two-legged take downs and scored a barely passing score of 68. It reminded me of my old mathematics tests scores in high school in Philadelphia, where a D was barely passing and at the time I didn’t care. I told myself “well at least I passed.” I remember how upset my father was then. I thought it was because of the grade and that was partially true but it more because I had set that standard for myself and I didn’t want to nor felt I could do better!

I didn’t even want to try!

As the day of the training loomed ahead, I also had the added benefit of going over the training and testing with my friends who weren’t looking forward to it either and shared my disdain for the instructor. Some of my friends were taking other martial arts like Tae Kwon Do and it made me want to get back to my old school in Vacaville. Those discussions were alot of fun until one of my friends asked me, “well what’s stopping you from going again?” Because I couldn’t hit him with a barrage of tailor-made excuses, I had to simply reply. Nothing, which reminded me of an old Seinfeld episode where George kept saying, “I got nuthin’…” when someone would ask him about things he didn’t want to do because he was trying to get out of doing them.

After these conversations, I made a tiny mental shift in thinking which I didn’t share with my friends. It began with wanting to at least nail the take downs this time and in my mind I began to replay the correct way of doing them over and over. I saw myself doing them correctly during testing. This caused me to look forward to the training and actually want to do it! Tuesday came and during the testing, I nailed the take downs and as it turned out I did everything else well too because I scored 100 percent and was recommended for the Intermediate level.

Let me ask you, if you could wave a magic wand and have either a million dollars in the bank or a million-dollar mindset, which would you choose?

“Remember this, your income will never long exceed your own level of personal development. It may take a jump through happy circumstance or a lucky break — but if your own development does not quickly rise to meet that new level, it will quickly bounce back to the level where your personal development limits it, sure as if it were on a rubber band.

The same is true of your health; and of your relationships; and of your career; and of every aspect of your life. Over the long term, the limiting factor is never circumstance or fate; the limiting factor is always you. In the same way, and for the same reasons, the limitless scope of possibilities is also defined by one factor; you.” – Jeff Olson, The Slight Edge Secret to a $uccessful Life.

Check out this video with Tony Robbins – The tiniest changes yield massive results.
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DID You Choose Poverty????

Monday, August 24th, 2009 at 1:28 pm

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How did you feel when you saw THAT title???

It probably upset you as it did me. Randy Gage asked this question on his blog and it created quite the firestorm! Some people were downright angry and called someone who has “helped create thousands of millionaires than anyone else,” basically an idiot.

I answered the question this way: “Great post and basically I think it means we have to all take some responsibility for where we are in life because somewhere down the road it was the choices we made then that got us to where we are now…! Such as not looking into opportunities to build a residual income stream(s) despite having heard it so many times from financial experts and people with proven track records for helping people reach the success they so richly deserve! People like Randy Gage…!”

Ok, maybe Randy Gage is a tad bit too hard on us. After all he did write a book titled, “Why You’re Dumb, Sick & Broke…And How to Get Smart, Healthy & Rich!” which is a “no nonsense in your face” book, that should be required reading for all of us and its a bestseller (imagine that with that title and everything)..!

But let’s see what someone else had to say.

“I don’t think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good. My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” Oprah Winfrey. Oprah Winfrey has risen from poverty and a troubled youth to become the most powerful and influential woman in television and, according to Forbes Magazine, the world’s most highly paid entertainer.

We could all probably Google tons of quotes from famous people (but it’s alot better to get them from the books in our personal library, books we read and/or have re-read over and over…but that’s another post) and to some those quotes will inspire and to others…mean absolutely NOTHING..!

During these “tough economic times” (and before) people will say, “Well we’re inundated with opportunities all the time. It gets sickening…its all noise!” Well, that may be true but my questions to you are, while hearing just about all of the financial gurus from Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, Suzie Orman etc., say basically the same thing as people as Randy Gage says…what are you doing about your financial situation? How many of these business opportunities are you taking advantage of..? Probably none! Because…{well fill in the blank as any excuse will do}..!

DID you choose poverty? Or better yet, do you continue to choose poverty with the decisions you make? Also, poverty doesn’t have mean monetary but it can also mean spiritually or in regards to your health or personal relationships as well. What are you doing or what did you do to start your journey of success? For instance, a while back Randy Gage suggested I start a blog in an email a couple of months ago (he only sent 1 email and I still can’t find it to this day). When I received that email and read it I thought to myself, “Oh yeah, riiiiighttt..!” Needless to say I didn’t do it..! Analysis paralysis I guess, but whatever the reason it was a poor decision..!

Have you ever heard the phrase about “being sick and tired of being sick and tired?” Well, I used to weigh 420lbs and it wasn’t until I got sick and tired of being sick and tired of weighing 420lbs, that I did something about it! Oh, sure I heard it from the doctors about my blood pressure and diabetes. But I still ate wrong and no amount of their preaching nor knowing my life was at risk caused me to do anything. I also had the added benefit of having to listen to naysayers about weight-loss surgery! It wasn’t until I DECIDED to do something, did my life change on May 9, 2005 and got the Duodenal Switch surgery! I now weigh 212lbs and no longer have diabetes and my blood pressure in under control..!

There is another phrase that says, “A man convinced against his will; is of the same opinion still.” So I’m not going to preach anything to anyone. But I will say this, we all need to take responsibility for where we are in life and the sooner we do that the quicker we will be to designing the life we so richly deserve…and it’s NEVER too late!

Here’s my good friend, Ivan Sisco’s take on choices, Part 1 with Part 2 to follow, and you’ll not want to miss it! Coincidentally, he’s been hard on me but its because he cares and he wants to the best for me and everyone else! I needed that from him as its caused me to reflect on things and I thank him for it..!

For more INCREDIBLE knowledge with Randy Gage – http://www.randygage.com

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How To “Close” Your Prospects

Monday, August 24th, 2009 at 11:25 am

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“I would rather be a master prospector than the wizard of speech and have no one to tell my story to!” says master salesman, Paul J. Meyer.

Years ago, when he was in the life insurance business, Paul set a goal to never depend on leads from advertising, never depend on leads from the company, never to make “cold calls,” and never be “appointment broke” each morning.

Did it work? Well, you decide:
*At age 19 – he led the largest weekly premium insurance company in the nation!
*At age 21 – he led the largest exclusive ordinary life insurance agency in the nation!
*At age 23 – he qualified as the youngest life member of the Million Dollar Round Table!
*At age 24 – he owned more life insurance on himself than any other top producer in America…with any company!
*At age 25 – he built the largest life insurance agency in the country and recruited 820 salespeople in 12 months!
*At age 25 – he was the highest paid insurance salesman in the country!
*And he conducted hundreds of seminars for life insurance agencies on “how to prospect your way to millions”!

97% of Network Marketers FAIL at this ONE Skill…CLOSING…!

Scary statistic, yes..!
Quite a staggering failure rate wouldn’t you agree?
I want you to understand something here. Through me I can get you access to the highest converting sales funnels in the industry…

I can give you the most advanced marketing tools on the internet, which will have leads flooding into your business within the hr…

And I can get you the cutting-edge marketing training that you require, on an ongoing basis, to keep you educated and well ahead of your competition…

So what?

All of the best marketing tools on the planet won’t teach you the #1 skill of a network marketer, which is the art of CLOSING!

We get paid to recruit… to sell… to close, period!
If you had 100+ leads per day coming through your websites, what good does that do if you can’t even close a door?

Don’t get me wrong, knowing and implementing the latest cutting-edge tactics on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, article marketing secrets, pay-per-click marketing, etc is what I do for a living, but you can’t just sit behind your computer and expect to achieve $10,000+ per month in network marketing.

You’ve got to NETWORK, not just market.

PEOPLE DO BUSINESS WITH PEOPLE, NOT WEBSITES!

Consider this…

How would your business change if you could pick up the phone, know what to ask, how to ask it, and when to ask it so that by the end of the conversation your prospect is begging you for more information about YOUR business?

This is what I’m going to show you this Wednesday August 26th at 9:00 PM EST…

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/217827434

Live Marketing & Training Call for MLMLeadSystemPRO Members and Guests.
Join Us this Wednesday Night and listen live.

9PM Eastern
8PM Central
7PM Mountain
6PM Pacific

Time Converter Link:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Your f*r*e*e training this Wednesday is the secret to creating a multiple 6-figure income with your business.
I’ll see you there…

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How To Promote Your Business Online

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 at 5:03 am

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This is a guest post by Zeke Camusio, founder of The Outsourcing Company.

There are several options for those who want to promote their websites. I will go over some of the most effective ways of getting traffic, but before I start, I want to give you a word of warning: not all these techniques are good for all the businesses. Some might work very well for a certain industry and not work at all for a different niche.

Search Engine Optimization
SEO is great. Think about it. People go to Google, search for what you sell, your website pops up, they click on it, and there you are, offering them what they were searching for. Then it is up to you whether they become customers.

The downside of SEO is that if you don’t know what you are doing, reaching the top positions is extremely hard. You need professional SEO people working for you. But once you are at the top, be prepared to get more business than you will be able to handle. It is a great investment.

Pay Per Click
The reason why I love PPC is because you can start getting traffic in less than 15 minutes. Sure, you are paying for that traffic, but if you sell a superior product, price it right, and do a great job marketing it, there is nothing for you to worry about. You will get your investment back several times.

Just like with SEO, if you don’t know what you are doing, you better hire someone to manage that campaign for you or you will be overpaying for each visitor you acquire.

Forum Marketing
Let’s say you are an attorney who specializes in incorporating new businesses. It would be smart to post valuable information on forums where people are asking things like “Should I form an LLC or a Corporation?” There is one golden rule, though: don’t just spam the forum with self-promotion. You have to be willing to give, give, and give before you receive anything. Once you have established yourself as an authority, people will come to you for advice. It is up to you then to show them the value of your services. You can also use article distribution services to post articles on subjects you are an expert at.

Online Classified Ads
Personally I haven’t had much success using online ads with my clients, but some people claim that it worked really well for them. They are free, so there is not much you can lose by giving it a shot. The most popular classifieds websites are Craigslist, Kijiji, and US Free Ads.

Direct Marketing
This is one of my personal favorites. You need to think who your prospects are and where you can find them. For example, one of our clients was organizing a baseball tournament in Atlanta and wanted us to help him to promote it. We bought a database of baseball teams in the US, prepared an incredible landing page with copy that made the offer irresistible, and email all the clubs inviting them to see the landing page. He got so many clubs interested that he had to turn down half of them because he couldn’t accommodate them all.

Press Releases
Press releases are one of the best things that you can do to promote your business. However, most people don’t know how to write a press release or choose the right topic. Make the press release about something that the media will want to publish. If it doesn’t sound like news, it probably isn’t. If the release doesn’t have anything worth publishing, don’t even bother writing it.

Affiliate Programs
I love affiliate programs. It is a risk-free way of getting traffic. Affiliates send visitors to your website and they only get paid when a sale is made. If you sell services, you can pay them for each lead that they help you get. It is almost impossible to screw up with affiliate marketing. However, if you are not familiar with it and don’t know the secrets of the trade, you are not likely to attract the best affiliates and you will barely get any traffic. Ask for professional help to set up your affiliate program.

Industry-Specific Promotion Methods
Each industry has some promotion techniques that are specific to that industry. For example, if you are a programmer you can get projects on Elance or GetAFreelancer. If you are a travel agency you can list your packages on Expedia. Just think outside the box.

Alliance Marketing
Let’s go back to the business attorney example. Who are his clients? Mostly startups. What do startups need? Well, maybe a website, office space, office supplies, and startup money. He could have arrangements with web designers, office space owners, office supplies vendors, and investors.

Advertising
There are two main ways of advertising: graphic and text. Graphic advertisement is usually in the form of banners, both static and animated. Text advertisement is when a blogger or webmaster writes an article about your products or services and includes a text link to your website. Some good options are Pay Per Post, Blog Ads, Text Link Ads, Advertising Dot Com, Facebook, Business Dot Com, etc.

Local Services and Directories
DMOZ is a free directory. If you are not listed there, do it right now. There are also niche-specific directories. If you are an attorney, search for “attorney directory” on Google to find them. There are also some paid directories, such as Yahoo and Business.com. If your budget allows you to list your website there, by all means do it. It also helps with SEO.
If you have a physical store or an office, local websites such as Local Dot Com, Google Local, Yahoo Local, and MSN Local will give you some free links and also show your business on the map when someone is searching for it. And they are free.

Offline Marketing
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the only way of promoting a website is online. There are a lot of things you can do to promote your business offline. Brainstorm a little and you will come up with several ideas.

The Bottom Line
The most important thing is tracking, testing, and optimizing. Set up a tracking system to figure out how your visitors found you, which marketing campaigns are bringing you profits, and which ones are losing you money. Chances are that after testing everything on this list plus your own ideas you will keep two or three strategies and discard the other ones. And that’s fine. This is about doing a couple of things right, not doing as many things as you can. Focus. It pays.

If you need help with promoting your website, let me know. I can certainly help.

Zeke Camusio is a serial entrepreneur. His sixth endeavor, The Outsourcing Company, is an Internet marketing agency with offices in Aspen, Colo. and New York. Zeke writes an entrepreneurship and Internet marketing blog called Let’s Do It! Check it out at www.TheOutsourcingCompany.com/blog.Share this Post

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The Pearls of Wisdom Digest

Archive for August, 2009

The Changing Landscape of Online Advertising

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I’ve Got My Mind Made Up

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DID You Choose Poverty????

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How To “Close” Your Prospects

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How To Promote Your Business Online

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